The present invention relates to a device for gripping ropes, cables, or wires, in the nature of a rope winch, in which the rope to be gripped is guided over a manually or mechanically driven member comprising two conical discs which are firmly or operatively connected to each other and have surfaces facing each other. The inventive device may be used with particular advantage on sailing yachts as a sheet or anchor winch.
Winches, by means of which, with the aid of a rope, chain, or similar pulling means wound on a drivable drum, loads can be elevated or drawn near, are well known in a plurality of various designs and successfully used in almost all technological fields. In many cases, the drum is of cylindrical shape. However, there are also known designs in which the driven member of the gripping device comprises two conical discs firmly connected to each other which are mutually parallel and have their conical surfaces facing each other so that the rope to be gripped or clamped can be fitted into the circular, wedge-shape, groove thus formed.
In all of these designs of winches, the pulling means is retained by engagement in a toothing, by contact friction on the cylindrical drum or between the conical discs, or by fixing the rope, so that, in order to ensure a satisfactory frictional force even under high loads, the rope sometimes must be wound about the drum several times.
Rope and cable winches are preferably used also on ships, particularly on sailing yachts, as sheet or anchor winches, in order to be able to apply the high forces necessary for moving sails, traps, or anchors. In all of these known winch constructions, which are frequently also provided with locking mechanisms in the form of ratchets or brakes serving to prevent a slipping back of the drum, it is necessary to pass the rope once or several times about the drum or the conical discs for obtaining the needed friction. Then, during the veering, i.e., loosening of the sheet, several turns of the sheet must be taken from the drum and the sheet can be veered only if the rope slips on the drum. In most cases, this operation takes too much time so that, in races, precious time elapses unused until the sail is brought into the desired position. In addition, the risk that the rope or sheet becomes twisted is very high. Further, winches used up to date have the disadvantage of not allowing a quick operation by a single person. On the contrary, one crew member has to haul the rope close and another has to actuate the crank for driving the drum.